Local Economy Framework

Share Ownership

More density and diversity of local business ownership means more jobs and more wealth for more people. Cultivating democratic economic models like worker ownership, land trusts, protection of public assets, and the commons – works.

Workers also have an ownership stake in the Mandela Marketplace in Buffalo, NY.

Another how-to for converting a business into a worker-owned cooperative.

Yes! Magazine’s report on how cooperatives are leading the way to empowered workers and healthy communities.

Project Equity’s Hilary Abell, with Democracy Collaborative, wrote a report (PDF) on how to expand worker cooperatives into larger businesses that employ more people and have a greater positive impact on the community. She talks to Laura Flanders about that report here.

A Community Land Trust (CLT) is a form of ownership for the common good with a charter based on the principles of sustainable and ecologically sound stewardship and use. The Schumacher Center for a New Economics provides a great list of resources on CLT.

SHIFT CHANGE is a documentary film that tells the little known stories of employee owned businesses that compete successfully in today’s economy while providing secure, dignified jobs in democratic workplaces. Get your copy or host a screening in your place.

The Toolbox for Education and Social Action teamed up with GritTV to make OWN THE CHANGE— a short how-to video and toolkit for people curious about co-ops.

Find out how anchor institutions like hospitals and universities in Cleveland are helping worker cooperatives create green jobs in the neighborhoods that need them most. (VIDEO)